


There Will Be Dancing

by DaLiza



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, post 5x17, season 5 episode 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 06:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14373357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaLiza/pseuds/DaLiza
Summary: A FitzSimmons episode tag for 5x17 (The Honeymoon).





	There Will Be Dancing

A philosophy class at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy was Fitz’s first introduction to the “trolley problem.” Imagine, Professor Wallace had said, that you are witnessing a runaway trolley headed for five people tied to the tracks. You have two choices: do nothing, or pull a lever to make the trolley change tracks. If you do nothing, five people will die. If you pull the lever, those five people will live, but one person tied to the other track will die. 

So do you pull the lever? Could you sacrifice one person to save others? 

Everyone in the class said yes, it was necessary for the greater good.

The professor continued asking questions. What if the five were elderly and the one was a child? Or a baby? What if the five were strangers and the one was someone you loved? Does that change your answer?

Many of Fitz’s classmates hesitated, but Fitz had been sure of his answer. No matter the variables, one life lost was better than five lives lost. That was simple mathematics. But now—

“What are you thinking about?” Simmons asked, noticing the faraway look on her husband’s face as they stood side by side in the Hydra facility.

“Professor Wallace’s philosophy course.”

“Let me guess. The trolley problem?”

“Yeah. It’s easy enough in theory. Let one person die to save five. But if that one person is my wife—“

“Fitz—“ 

“I wouldn’t do it, Jemma. I couldn’t.”

“But it’s not just five people on the other side of the track. Helping Hydra might lead to the Earth’s destruction! We can’t take that risk.”

He took her hand in his. “I can’t let them kill you, Jemma. Even if it means putting the whole world at risk...because you are my world. And as long as I’m alive, I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

She kissed him. “You’re going to be a wonderful father someday...unless of course we’re wrong about time being fixed and we don’t live long enough to—“

“We’ll live long enough to raise little Rosie, don’t you worry.”

“Rosie? After your grandmother?”

When Fitz nodded, Simmons laughed. 

“What’s so funny about the name Rosie?” Fitz asked.

“Nothing. It’s a lovely name. I laughed because I’ve thought about naming our daughter after MY grandmother. What do you think about Elizabeth Rose Fitz-Simmons?”

“How about Rose Elizabeth?”

“I think Elizabeth Rose has a better rhythm.”

“You’re just saying that because you want your grandmother’s name first.”

“HEY!” Von Strucker shouted. He had just entered the room and was approaching the couple with a gun in his hand. Fitz reflexively stepped in front of his wife. “Stop talking and get back to work!”

Fitz and Simmons remained silent until Von Strucker walked away a few minutes later. 

“We’re going to get through this.” Fitz said, squeezing her hand. “And then we’ll have a proper wedding, one that our parents can go to. I’ll wear a kilt and you can wear any dress you want and there will be cake and—“

“Dancing?” Simmons’s eyes lit up with childlike glee.

“If you want.” Fitz was already imagining his mum crying tears of joy as she watched her son dance with his new bride. “But you know that I don’t know how to dance.“

“Fitz, you figured out how to find me when I was on a space station seventy years in the future! You can learn how to dance.”

He smiled. “Alright. I’ll learn how to dance for our wedding. Then we’ll go on a honeymoon that doesn’t involve evil robots or killer teenagers. Agreed, Mrs. Fitz-Simmons?”

“Agreed, Mr. Fitz-Simmons. But first we save the world.”


End file.
